Hate crime in Kerala

As queers become more visible, and vocal, hate crimes are going to escalate, as these posts on Facebook indicate. This report is pieced together from fragments as they began appearing on FB at about 4 PM on Thursday. The victim had chilli powder smeared over his body.

Anil Sadanandan (who also went by Mariya) was a trans activist living and working in Kerala, India. S/he was a vocal, queer activist who was open about her identity both in the media and at events like Kerala Queer Pride. Anil/ Mariya worked in the Harbour Engineering Department Government of Kerala.

“On May 9th, a group of men entered her home and brutally murdered her. Accounts detail that they sprinkled chilli powder on her, presumably to keep away the police. We, her friends, family and those who knew her vibrant spirit — mourn her loss”, says a post.

Thirty-nine year-old Anil’s murder is a brutal signal from murdering homophobic patriarchy that trans people/queer people/ non-conforming persons of all kinds have no right to live, much less live with equality and dignity. We cannot let this horrible injustice be quietly erased. The one’s whose bodies and lives are the most vulnerable are also the ones who do most of the fighting. In Solidarity. For Justice.

Anil Sadanandan, a transgender based at Kollam working at Harbour Engineering department, He graduated from S D College in 1999. Neendakara and staying at the Govt. quarters in Thankassery was brutally murdered yesterday night.